bored… trying not to use my last yunnan golds, or the remaining 5g of good matcha, resorted to playing with things i dont drink as often…

used one of Yunnan sourcing’s green oolongs (no label, so almost 2 years later i have no idea which green wu it is.)

placed the oolong nuggets on aluminium foil, then in they went –
countertop convection oven

400F, 1 min + 1 min (1st min still looked green, so i put it another min, then it started to smell like sort of burnt hay/weeds).
Picture – top is roasted, but doesnt look as brown as i see it …

liquor sure isnt greenish anymore 🙂

flavor: muted flavors of the original green oolong, missing: flowery. not much of that green feel (some say metallic)
with …roasted feel… roasted like… when you place a vegetable on a really hot plate – roasted/burnt skin (like those roasted red peppers),
pleasant, cant feel as much astringency, some green tannin on the tongue(less than unroast),

noticeably different from being a straight green or a “real” dark oolong which i guess are also oxidized and stuff. maybe i feel some faint tobacco but its mixed with some of that burnt hay thing.

maybe next i’ll try a lower temp for longer time to even out the flavors (have the inside of the nugget done as well not just the outside – as i think happened here)

package contains the regular antioxidant doctors and other uhm goo intended to help sell it as a “health aide”. Label’s been slightly changed since 2 years ago,

now the polyphenol type stands out all contrasty and stuff, esp the blue next to the red… with a heavy red box on the can surely draws the eye … all this shiz – rather offending to my eyes, instead of something meaningful like what kind of oolong this is, when was it manufactured, some story about the monkeys that picked the leaf or whatever… eh… i didnt even bother to flip the can and read it, so maybe there is a story about monkeys – no there isnt, but there is a image of a monkey on the can…

Taste: like a gaoshan/high mountain oolong i think, without any “egg-flavor”(as i call it) = yay, just a nice “green”-oolong. Not much astringency/tannin in front of tongue but very small. Mostly just flavor. Did very well in re-infusions. Not much astringency was present. Aroma was still present, less than the opened package “hit”, i think maybe its similar to honeysuckle flower, but i havent done any side-by-side to be sure.

Overall: very nice everyday oolong for my taste. Low astringency, just flavor, no “foody-ness”, nice aroma, can be reinfused many times.

Found at Zaytuna’s (NY) $1.99 + tax … nice price for a “new” product, placed next to ItoEn and Adagio bottled teas.

As their green tea did not satisfy me
i was naturally & organically a little suspicious,
but here it is:

Smell: off to a good start: some sort of dark oolong !

Taste: there is a sufficient amount of astringency/tannin (not bitterness) on the tongue but its not overpowering. Follows a dark oolong flavor, maybe a ‘generic’ wuyi or TGY?…may be something else, i cant type it. The tannin then leaves a dry sensation on the tongue and throat. Can’t feel any of the vit C/ascorbic in the flavor (it might be mixed/covered by the tannin), but there are no other weird flavors or chemical tastes. … it does taste like a ‘pure oolong tea’, on my tongue. As for the quality of the tea leaf used i cant say because i dont consume as much dark oolong as other tea types.

Overall: this is very nice as i see it and I’d have no problem buying this again. …dont remember the other bottled oolongs i have on my RTD tea List, but i’ll put it on top for now.

a tgy, Didnt know what i was tasting since the package was not labeled in english 😛 , but i opened it and a familial smell struck me,
oy, i should know by now what i like, but this was another roasted oolong.

will have to retry- since i messed up the first time. — still the same impression.

wet leaf : very super nice …very 🙂 :
most are entire leaf plus some little stem, but the leaf is greenish, silky soft, very tender & tears very easily when handled, i have no idea how they twisted the leaf in those little nuggets.

dark(roasted) oolongs are not my thing, i dont know why i keep buying them 😛

and… PARKING sucks (for both locations). some 1hour spaces on Main st, some 1hour coin operated on Northern, some pay parkings but very crowded in weekend. Haven’t seen if there’s a free store parking like there is in Elmhurst (tho its not that big so you might have to wait for a spot.)

Well, not exactly what i was looking for, no “real” loose leaf tea sold from containers (like Wing Hop Fung in LA, or even Kam Man market in NYC), but they do have a huge selection of boxed teas (alot of Yamamotoyama & TenRen) & some “cheap” looseleaf in boxes or those plastic packages like i bought. and great number of other manufacturers, including Japanese, sencha loose prepackaged, oolongs loose prepackaged, even 3-4 arabian teas.

Some tea-accessories: strainers, glass boiling pot (7$, tho i didnt check if its good to put on an open flame), thermoses, cheap-looking (and ugly) tea-cups.

mmm yeah, the unpacking, … tea bag porn !

got a little present, some sort of crackers.

receipt, and some boxed teas orgy.

so, store rating? not a real tea store, service was – self-service, they did take my money, im not super-excited on that front…but i did get teas in return… something that hopefully will taste like tea.

by the name it sounded ofcourse like a friggin less oxidized oolong, hoping for green here 😛 but what i got is again a black oolong, well oxidized,

flavor 4/7, 1st pot was strong (they use just boiling water for all teas ofcourse), quite present astringency not high but medium-low, tobacco leaf flavor was less than their TGY, also a bit chocolaty and malty, similar to an assamy + yunnan taste.

2nd pot – rebrewed the leaf (still with just boiling water, but this time less brewed- like 3min)
more pleasant taste, very low astringency, pleasant taste.

brown liquor, wet leaf is mostly full some torn, varied colors, green, brown, brown-purpleish, green with oxidated edges. most of the wet leaf has a rough feel (picked at an older age?).

pretty good, liked it better than their other oolong – the TGY

would do this one again yes.

take care to do a fast 1st brew for this tea. (1-2min, check taste, it goes astringent fast.)

does very well reinfusions. leaves are very expanded after , like 1/2 cup after: 2 hot infusions, 2 room temp. subsequent cold water infusions extract a greenish, floral taste. still strong., tannins still low – i like that.

I love tea. These are my “tasting notes”, organized by type. Some have pictures (usually of tea… :D). “tea“ = alternative/original/westernized name VAR = varieties of that tea(tea) = additional varieties ^ = link to infoThank you for visiting, enjoy…

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